Source: State Board of Equalization

March 30, 2017 (Sacramento) -- California voters approved Proposition 56, which increased the excise tax rate on cigarettes and expanded the definition of “tobacco products” to include any type of tobacco, nicotine, little cigars, and electronic cigarettes sold in combination with nicotine.

By Miriam Raftery and Rebecca Jefferis Williamson

March 31, 2017 (El Cajon )—El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells is leading efforts among local officials opposed to Senate Bill 54, which would declare California a sanctuary state.  Officials from several local cities joined  Wells in a press conference March 29th at the El Cajon Police Department, where about 25 protesters who support the sanctuary measure also turned out.

Opponents of SB 54 claim it would make communities less safe and put federal funds at risk.  They have launched their own website, www.mayorsforsafecities.org. 

Critics disagree, and one local official contends that backers of the Safe Cities website have disseminated "alternative facts"  that mislead the public on SB 54.

East County News Service

March 30, 2017 (Sacramento) — Today, Senators Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) released details about their landmark Healthy California Act (Senate Bill 562) to create universal health coverage for every California resident.

Source:  SDG&E

March 29, 2017 (San Diego) — This week, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) along with local and state officials commemorated the 1,000th mobile home park residence to receive upgraded utility infrastructure. It is part of the Mobile Home Park Utility Upgrade Program that replaces aging energy systems that relied on one master meter for the entire park with new equipment connected directly to individual homes.

March 29, 2017 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories of interest to East County and San Diego’s inland regions, published in other media. This week’s top “Roundup” headlines include:

LOCAL

• Justice Dept. action signals serious legal concerns for Hunter (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• State reps want to change county elections: County reps not so much (Voice of San Diego)
• Facebook pioneer donates $75 million to UCSD (San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Unemployment rate in San Diego drops to only 4.2 percent (Times of San Diego)
• Border Patrol agents assaulted, threatened in three separate incidents (SD Union-Tribune)
• San Diego Emergency Officials, Geologist Sound Alarm on Tsunami Risk (KPBS)
• Chamber heads to Mexico City to protect cross-border ties in Trump era (Times of SD)

STATE

• Exclusive: Lead poisoning plagues California (Reuters)
• David Daleiden, activist from secret Planned Parenthood videos, charged with 15 felonies (Sacramento Bee)
• New parole rules released as California prisons near court-ordered cap (Sacramento Bee)
• California Cops and the FBI Want to Keep Their Facial Recognition Tech Secret (Reason)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

By Miriam Raftery

March 29, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- The California State Parks Foundation invites you to volunteer to help a local state park get ready for the summer season this Earth Day,  April 22^nd from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Spring flowers have brought splashes of color across the sunny slopes and green pastures of parks around California. After a record-breaking season of winter rains, California’s state parks are flush with wildflowers and wildlife. Winter has transitioned to spring and that means it’s also time for some spring cleaning.  This year marks the 19^th year of Earth Day spring cleaning in our state parks.

East County News Service

March 29, 2017 (San Diego) – Trial begins this week in a case filed against Petco for selling a pet rat with rat bite fever that killed Aidan Pankey, a 10-year-old Santee boy in 2013.

By Shaun Mullen, originally published at The Moderate Voice, a member of the San Diego Online News Association

Shaun Mullen was an award-winning editor and reporter who covered the Vietnam War, O.J. Simpson trials, Clinton impeachment, Osama bin Laden and more before turning to blogging and social commentary. He was a five-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, covered 12 presidential campaigns and authored several books. Much of his work is archived and accessible online in the Shaun D. Mullen Journalism Papers in Special Collections at the University of Delaware Library. ​

March 29, 2017 (Washington D.C.) -- Just because people with connections to Donald Trump’s Russia scandal keep dying or disappearing unexpectedly does not necessarily mean that their heart attacks, assassinations in broad daylight, mysterious exits and other premature departures are any more than an uncanny number of coincidences. (Cough, cough.) But the guy authorities claim was critically injured when his bathtub fell on him on the eve of a court appearance that would have been deeply embarrassing to the Vladimir Putin regime who also happens to be a key witness in a U.S. fraud case took my conspiracy-averse, never-leap-to-conclusions investigative self over the top.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Screenshot, NBC 7

March 28, 2017 (Santee) – Several Santee residents have a sinking feeling – due to sinkholes that have undermined their properties, prompting threats of a lawsuit against the city  

East County News Service

March 28, 2017 (Lemon Grove) - The Mt. Miguel School Alumni Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit, will hold a Spring Craft Fair on Saturday April 29 from 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.at Lemon Grove Academy Auditorium on School Lane in Lemon Grove.  All proceeds will go to fund Mt Miguel High School Programs and Scholarships.

East County News Service      

March 28, 2017 (Sacramento) — The Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights, or Assembly Bill 1312, has been unanimously approved by the Assembly Public Safety Committee. The measure is authored by San Diego Democratic Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher.

East County News Service

March 27, 2017 (Alpine) -- Lions, Tigers and Bears, an animal sanctuary in Alpine, has a new resident – a bouncing baby bobcat.

Weighing in at just 8 ounces, the rescued bobcat kitten is believed to be only about 10 days old.  The kitten was found near a neighborhood pool in Rancho Bernardo with no mother, so it was brought to a nearby pet hospital that in turn contacted Lions, Tigers and Bears.

East County News Service

March 27, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) - This weekend’s weather forecast is for sunny skies and pleasant temperatures with highs in the low 70s. It’s a perfect time to head outdoors and enjoy activities along local parks and trails.

Read the full proposed budget:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/...

By Miriam Raftery

March 27, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) -- Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget aims to boost military spending by 10% while slashing funds for many other departments and eliminating some completely.

By Miriam Raftery

March 27, 2017 (San Diego) – April 22^nd in Earth Day. This year, it will also be marked by a March for Science, as scientists nationwide emerge out of the lab and take to the streets from Washington D.C. to here in San Diego.